846 research outputs found
CXOU J160103.1-513353: another CCO with a carbon atmosphere?
We report on the analysis of XMM-Newton observations of the central compact
object CXOU J160103.1-513353 located in the center of the non-thermally
emitting supernova remnant (SNR) G330.2+1.0. The X-ray spectrum of the source
is well described with either single-component carbon or two-component hydrogen
atmosphere models. In the latter case, the observed spectrum is dominated by
the emission from a hot component with a temperature ~3.9MK, corresponding to
the emission from a hotspot occupying ~1% of the stellar surface (assuming a
neutron star with mass M = 1.5M, radius of 12 km, and distance of ~5
kpc as determined for the SNR). The statistics of the spectra and obtained
upper limits on the pulsation amplitude expected for a rotating neutron star
with hot spots do not allow us to unambiguously distinguish between these two
scenarios. We discuss, however, that while the non-detection of the pulsations
can be explained by the unfortunate orientation in CXOU J160103.1-513353, this
is not the case when the entire sample of similar objects is considered. We
therefore conclude that the carbon atmosphere scenario is more plausible.Comment: accepted in A&
Effects of Compton scattering on the neutron star radius constraints in rotation-powered millisecond pulsars
The aim of this work is to study the possible effects and biases on the
radius constraints for rotation-powered millisecond pulsars when using Thomson
approximation to describe electron scattering in the atmosphere models, instead
of using exact formulation for Compton scattering. We compare the differences
between the two models in the energy spectrum and angular distribution of the
emitted radiation. We also analyse a self-generated synthetic phase-resolved
energy spectrum, based on Compton atmosphere and the most X-ray luminous
rotation-powered millisecond pulsars observed by the Neutron star Interior
Composition ExploreR (NICER). We derive constraints for the neutron star
parameters using both the Compton and Thomson models. The results show that the
method works by reproducing the correct parameters with the Compton model.
However, biases are found in size and the temperature of the emitting hot spot,
when using the Thomson model. The constraints on the radius are still not
significantly changed, and therefore the Thomson model seems to be adequate if
we are interested only in the radius measurements using NICER.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, published in A&
Relation between the X-ray and Optical Luminosities in Binary Systems with Accreting Nonmagnetic White Dwarfs
We investigate the relation between the optical (g-band) and X-ray (0.5-10
keV) luminosities of accreting nonmagnetic white dwarfs. According to the
present-day counts of the populations of star systems in our Galaxy, these
systems have the highest space density among the close binary systems with
white dwarfs. We show that the dependence of the optical luminosity of
accreting white dwarfs on their X-ray luminosity forms a fairly narrow
one-parameter curve. The typical half-width of this curve does not exceed
0.2-0.3 dex in optical and X-ray luminosities, which is essentially consistent
with the amplitude of the aperiodic flux variability for these objects. At
X-ray luminosities Lx~1e32 erg/sec or lower, the optical g-band luminosity of
the accretion flow is shown to be related to its X-ray luminosity by a factor
~2-3. At even lower X-ray luminosities (Lx~1e30 erg/sec), the contribution from
the photosphere of the white dwarf begins to dominate in the optical spectrum
of the binary system and its optical brightness does not drop below Mg~13-14.
Using the latter fact, we show that in current and planned X-ray sky surveys,
the family of accreting nonmagnetic white dwarfs can be completely identified
to the distance determined by the sensitivity of an optical sky survey in this
region. For the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with a limiting sensitivity
m_g~22.5, this distance is ~400-600 pcComment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published in Astronomy Letter
Model atmospheres of X-ray bursting neutron stars
We present an extended set of model atmospheres and emergent spectra of X-ray
bursting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries. Compton scattering is taken
into account. The models were computed in LTE approximation for six different
chemical compositions: pure hydrogen and pure helium atmospheres, and
atmospheres with a solar mix of hydrogen and helium and various heavy elements
abundances: Z = 1, 0.3, 0.1, and 0.01 Z_sun, for three values of gravity, log g
=14.0, 14.3, and 14.6 and for 20 values of relative luminosity l = L/L_Edd in
the range 0.001 - 0.98. The emergent spectra of all models are fitted by
diluted blackbody spectra in the observed RXTE/PCA band 3 - 20 keV and the
corresponding values of color correction factors f_c are presented. We also
show how to use these dependencies to estimate the neutron star's basic
parameters.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, conference "Astrophysics of Neutron Stars - 2010"
in honor of M. Ali Alpar, Izmir, Turke
Modeling the EUV spectra of optically thick boundary layers of dwarf novae in outburst
Here we compute detailed model spectra of recently published optically thick
one-dimensional radial baundary layer (BL) models in cataclysmic variables and
compare them with observed soft X-ray/extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectra of
dwarf novae in outburst. Every considered BL model is divided into a number of
rings, and for each ring, a structure model along the vertical direction is
computed using the stellar-atmosphere method. The ring spectra are then
combined into a BL spectrum taking Doppler broadening and limb darkening into
account. Two sets of model BL spectra are computed, the first of them consists
of BL models with fixed white dwarf (WD) mass (1 M_sun) and various relative WD
angular velocities (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 break-up velocities), while the other
deals with a fixed relative angular velocity (0.8 break-up velocity) and
various WD masses (0.8, 1, and 1.2 M_sun). The model spectra show broad
absorption features because of blending of numerous absorption lines, and
emission-like features at spectral regions with only a few strong absorption
lines. The model spectra are very similar to observed soft X-ray/EUV spectra of
SS Cyg and U Gem in outburst. The observed SS Cyg spectrum could be fitted by
BL model spectra with WD masses 0.8 - 1 M_sun and relative angular velocities
0.6 - 0.8 break up velocities. These BL models also reproduce the observed
ratio of BL luminosity and disk luminosity. The difference between the observed
and the BL model spectra is similar to a hot optically thin plasma spectrum and
could be associated with the spectrum of outflowing plasma with a mass loss
rate compatible with the BL mass accretion rate. The suggested method of
computing BL spectra seems very promising and can be applied to other BL models
for comparison with EUV spectra of dwarf novae in outburst.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 14 pages, 13 figures, 4 table
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